This invention relates generally to monitoring an electrical wire and detecting an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and isolating said pulse to prevent electrical damage to an infrastructure such as an electrical grid, commercial facility, or the like.
An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, can be generally characterized as a short term burst of electromagnetic radiation generated by either natural or man-made activities. Most commonly, however, the term “EMP” is used to specifically describe the electromagnetic burst generated in association with the detonation of a nuclear weapon. Thus, the term “EMP” as used herein refers to the electromagnetic pulse generated by a weapon such as a nuclear weapon or a non-nuclear EMP event such as a mass solar ejection.
The EMP from such a weapon is capable of inducing voltages and corresponding currents into electrical systems such as wide-area power distribution grids, as well as into the electrical systems of homes, commercial buildings, and even vehicle electrical systems. Unless detected, monitored, isolated, or suppressed, that unwanted induced current can damage or destroy components within the affected electrical systems, diminishing the operability of the electrical system or oftentimes rendering it unusable until repaired. Similarly, it is understood that a massive solar event may create a similar electrical catastrophe. For instance, a coronal mass ejection is a sun eruption of super-hot plasma that spews charged particles across the solar system and may induce over-currents in the electrical grid, overheating of transformers, and cause mass failure within the electrical grid.
Unlike the electromagnetic radiation or pulse associated with common phenomena, the EMP generated by a nuclear weapon comprises multiple pulses of varying duration, such that the EMP is more accurately considered as a complex, electromagnetic multi-pulse, usually described in terms of three primary components defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as E1, E2, and E3.
Before an EMP can be handled, it must be detected very quickly and then dealt with before the detected pulse can cause damage to commercial infrastructure, such as to an electrical grid, commercial facility, transformer, or even to a home's electrical panel. Specifically, the dangerous or damaging EMP may be detected, isolated, monitored, or even shunted as will be described later.
While surge suppressors for electrical systems are known in the art, those suppressors are typically optimized for use only with surges of relatively short duration caused by commonly occurring phenomena, such as lightning strikes or electrical system failures (e.g., the failure of a transformer in the power distribution grid or a short introduced across electrical lines). Those known surge suppressors, however, are generally ineffective against the complex, multiple surges caused or generated by a weapon-induced EMP pulse.
Optimally the combination of E1, E2, and E3 components of an EMP needs to be suppressed. However, the present invention recognizes that detection of only the E2 and/or E3 components in the absence of an E1 component may cause a false alarm that a dangerous and true EMP event is occurring and, in such a case, could mistakenly or prematurely, result in the isolation or complete shutdown of important infrastructure that is being monitored. The prior art, including U.S. Pat. No. 9,562,938, disclose embodiments of a system and method for detecting and characterizing electromagnetic pulses for the protection of critical infrastructure components. Although presumably effective for their intended purposes, the prior art does not yet provide a solution in the form of a system and method for detecting, isolating, and monitoring electromagnetic pulse-induced electrical system surges induced by the E1, E2, and E3 components of an electromagnetic radiation complex multi-pulse generated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon.
Thus, because of the complex nature of an EMP pulse, comprised of E1, E2, and E3 components, there remains a need for an improved and total solution, system, and method for electrical surges generated by an EMP promulgated from a detonated nuclear weapon or solar mass ejection. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method for detecting, isolating, and monitoring electromagnetic pulse-induced electrical system surges induced by the E1, E2, and E3 components of an electromagnetic radiation complex multi-pulse generated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon. In addition, the total solution described herein may also include suppressing a combination of an E1, E2, and E3 pulse.